Denver Nuggets: The steady hand of Will Barton
Will Barton has blossomed from an end of the bench player in Portland to a solid sixth man for the Denver Nuggets. He is on track for his best year yet in 2017-18.
The Denver Nuggets are a team with more variance than almost any other team in the league. After finishing just shy of .500 and the playoffs last season, they are currently fifth in the Western Conference. They lost three of their first four games but are 7-2 since. They have a revamped roster with a newfound defensive anchor in Paul Millsap, a welcome addition to a team that barely avoided finishing last season as the worst team in the league.
While the roster has been revamped, the Nuggets’ core has remained mostly unchanged. One of the key pieces in their rotation is a man who looked to be little more than a bit player before thriving in Denver.
Will Barton went from the end of the bench with the Portland Trail Blazers to a vital roster cog for the Denver Nuggets. Barton is in his third season as Denver’s sixth man and is once again carrying the second unit.
While Barton is now in his prime at age 27, his steady improvement has been crucial to the team. His continued growth and success will be vital to Denver’s playoff chances, as he is averaging a career-high 15.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on 46.1 percent shooting from the field and 41.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.
A cog in the machine
Will Barton’s success in Denver is in part due to his ability to fit in with the players around him. Barton is not a lockdown defender, but his 6’6″ frame allows him to switch effectively onto almost any perimeter player.
More importantly, given the Denver Nuggets’ offense-first team construction, Barton is an excellent complementary piece on the offensive end. He has enough off-the-dribble creativity to be an effective secondary ball-handler, and can occasionally carry the primary offensive burden on more bereft secondary units. While he often tries too hard with his semi-fake no-look passes and aggressively reckless drives to the hole, Barton improved his assist to turnover ratio from 1:1 as a rookie to 2.12:1 last year.
Barton has also slowly developed a 3-point shot. He shot an abysmal 13.8 percent from deep as a rookie, but improved to a career-best 37 percent from deep last season on a healthy 3.9 attempts per game. This year, he is shooting 40.6 percent from deep on 4.9 attempts per game. Barton has shown an increased confidence in pulling up from beyond the arc:
Notice how Barton knows exactly where to be on the fastbreak. With a different player running the point, it might make sense for Barton to look for a way to cut to the rim. However, with a speedster like Emmanuel Mudiay running up court, Barton finds the perfect spot on the left wing.
His ability to fit in with the players around him makes Barton a valuable piece to this team’s offense.
Future outlook
Will Barton will be a free agent this offseason, and it will be difficult for the Denver Nuggets to pay him. With Gary Harris‘ contract extension about to kick in, Denver already has more salary on the books for next season than it does this year.
Barton has been on one of the league’s best contracts for the last three seasons, earning just $10 million across all three years to average 14 points per game as Denver’s first man off the bench. Barton fills a need for the Nuggets as a capable bench scorer who knows where to be on both ends and (usually) does not try to do too much.
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Denver’s willingness to re-sign Barton will depend on their ability to make the playoffs this season. It will also depend on their ability to trade either Kenneth Faried or the onerous contract just given to Mason Plumlee. Will Barton will be able to contribute to whatever team he joins next season. Fans in Denver will have to hope that he is still contributing to the team that gave him his first chance in a major NBA role.